It’s going to be a mite chilly waiting for that 5am opening this Black Friday! Here are 9 supplies recommended by veteran Black Friday shoppers to keep you fed, warm, and entertained while camping out in line:

1. Tent
A small tent helps keep the wind off and contain body heat.

2. Sleeping Bag
The insulation of a sleeping bag keeps the cold ground from sucking out all your body heat.

3. Warm Clothing
If you’ve got snow pants, you’re ultra-prepared! Otherwise, several layers of clothing are a must. Don’t forget thick socks, and make sure all your joints (ankles, wrists, knees) are covered as those are major points of heat loss.

4. Blankets
If you don’t have a sleeping bag, two blankets (one for underneath you and one for on top of you) will do the trick.

5. Food and Water
While your food will probably be cold, it’s best not to bring items that are meant to be eaten cold (ice cream, etc) and stick to snacks that are eaten at room temperature, such as crackers and sandwiches. You don’t want things to melt; rather, you want items that might normally be placed into a refrigerator (the outside air will act as the fridge).

6. Books/Games/DVD players
Sitting for hours can get pretty boring. Bring reading material to keep yourself occupied, or some DVD’s or Blu-ray discs for yourself or friends to watch. With a great game, you’ll also like make some new friends!

7. Fold Out Chairs
Keeping off the concrete will help you stay warm and avoid leg cramps. Small fold-out tables are also nice to have if you’ll be there for several hours so that you have something off of which to eat and drink.

8. Camping Heater
If it’s going to be dangerously cold, or you’ll be out for a long time, a small propane camping heater in your tent will make the night go a lot faster.

9. Extra Circulars
You never know what might happen if you only have one! Extra copies of the circulars will also help time pass if you’re into price-matching. You can also spend some time scouring the best Black Friday shopping apps on your smartphone.

While this looks like a lot of stuff, it really is necessary given the length of time you could be waiting and how cold the temperatures can drop. Once you get your ticket from the retail store, you’ll want to make sure you can get all your stuff packed away in a reasonable amount of time. Be sure to bring a buddy to help get it all back in the car so your spot in line isn’t lost.

And an important last note: as you’re planning out where you’re going to shop, make sure to scout out the area for bathrooms. If you have a buddy, one of you can hold the spot in line while the other goes for a bathroom break. Some shoppers even bring an RV and take turns waiting in the cold in line! You can also check for 24 hour restaurants or nearby gas stations. You don’t want to miss the first few minutes of the sale because you’re stuck in line for the bathroom when the doors open.

Kira BotkinKira is a longtime blogger and serial entrepreneur who enjoys gardening, garage sales, and finding stray animals. She lives in Columbus, Ohio, where football is a distinct season, and by day runs a research study for people with multiple sclerosis. She hopes that the MoneyCrashers team can help you achieve your goals and live a great life.

Wear layers of clothing, Make sure you have hat, gloves, scarves, warm coat, two shirts, a pair of sweats over a pair of other pants, warm socks 2 pairs, boots, and bring a blanket to lay over it all.

Have someone with you do NOT go it alone. My husband and I went together, and thank goodness because we would switch going into a store nearby to warm up and to use their bathroom. DO NOT count on strangers to hold your spot in line until you get back they may say they will but they wont. Several people behind us did this and were told nope I never said I would hold your spot I dont even KNOW you. So have someone with you to hold that spot, and go use the bathroom down the street, or get a hot chocolate for you and your partner to warm up with and get a little warm for a bit while you can until the other stores close.

Bring tons of heating pads, the kind you dont have to plug in. Put them in your boots, your gloves, your pants pockets, your coat pockets, your bra even. It will help warm you up a bit.

Wear a pad. You heard me ladies. If the store down the street closes and there is NO STORES OPEN anywhere around, you may LEAK IF YOU LAUGH, COUGH, or whatever it is.
Bring folding chairs. The person you are with or you can bring the chairs back to the car 15 minutes til the store opens, and you or that person can hold spots. You need the chairs. It is very hard to stand from 4PM until 1AM in the morning.

Bring hot food in insulated thermoses. Hell, you just had your big turkey dinner, so you wont be hungry for a bit, but when you do, some hot turkey and grave over mashed taters in your thermos is going to be just what you need to warm up.

Bring your own insulated coffee cups so when someone goes for hot coco or coffee, it stays warmer longer.

A small bottle of bailey’s irish cream, to add to the coffee or coco will also aid in warming you up a bit. Don’t get drunk, but give yourself enough to feel that internal alcohol warmth.

MP3 Players, books and a flashlight, or portable dvd player with a headphone splitter will help you get through these hours upon hours of boredom. Also, try talking to the people directly in front or behind you. They may be interesting and just as bored as you are, and may want to talk with you. We were laughing and talking, telling jokes and how we might lose appendges within a few hours, so that kept us going/

Have a list. Before you show up at the store, have 2 lists of everything in that store you want to purchase.One for you, one for the other person. Splitting up is the perfect way to get everything on your list before the mad dash of people grab it all.

Two weeks before Black Friday go in the store, and map it. Write down what aisle each thing is in. Like you have your list, this is in aisle 1 and so is this, these are in aisle two, and when you get home, make the lists this way, you are going to aisle 1 where you will grab this and this and that, have your buddy who is going with have the list at the other end of the store, like his first items to grab are at aisle 14. You start on opposite ends of the store and grab everything you need.

Listen up. Most sales are only for the first 10 to 12 people in line who want them. The employees will come out and say do you need this this this this this this or that, and you tell them which of those items you want, and they give you a card for it. No card? No item at that price. See how that works? This is especially important for expensive items, like if they have a flat screen kids tv for just $22 and the normal price is $200. Odds are they have 10-12 in the store at that price. Don’t get a card? Pay $200 or dont buy it. So it is VERY important to be at the head of the line if you are intent on those items. Go early.

Also, before you do your list of other items, turn in the cards and get those expensive things. Last yr, there was an uproar at toys r us because some employees forgot that you needed the card to get those items at the price. So they gave some of those items out, and the people with cards who waited to get the special items were screwed.

If you need more than 2 of the same card item, and you cant get a gaggle of people to go with you, ask the people standing in front if they would be willing to grab a card for you, and pay for the item that you need. Hand them the money and trust in it. We did it last yr for a few items and no one screwed us over.

Next point- Bring cash. Because if you need someone to grab the item for you, they need cash to pay for it.

Also, try to be quick when getting your items, and try to be done before the people you handed the money too. They are less willing to screw you over if your standing right there saying, wheres my computer?

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